Energy

Oil tankers, threatened humpbacks on collision course on B.C.’s north coast due to pipeline approval

A humpback whale is seen just outside of Hartley Bay on the north coast of B.C. near the proposed route of oil tankers associated with Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline project, on Sept, 17, 2013. The majestic animals are protected by the federal Species At Risk Act.

Susan Pinkus, senior scientist with Ecojustice, said the joint review panel’s recommendation that the $6.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline project proceed with conditions runs smack up against protections afforded under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA).

Legal protection for the humpbacks’ critical habitat under a SARA recovery plan takes effect in April 2014, with tankers already identified by the federal government as posing potential threats due to strikes, underwater noise, displacement of whales, and oil spills, she said.

Pinkus cannot see how the federal government could issue permits under SARA allowing oil tankers to proceed through confined channels deemed critical to humpbacks. And if Ottawa did, that would open up the potential for environmentalists to launch legal action.

“The most serious threats Enbridge poses for marine mammals cannot be mitigated by conditions,” she said in an interview from Vancouver. “From a biological perspective, I cannot see how oil tankers could ever meet the preconditions necessary to obtain a Species at Risk Act permit to move through the recently identified humpback whale critical habitat.”

Tankers and other ships passing through the critical habitat of endangered southern resident killer whales are also a concern in the southern Strait of Georgia.

"The physical contexts are very different though," Pinkus noted. The narrowness of the channels along the Enbridge route "in particular concentrate effects that are already harmful even in more open waters," she said.

Among its 209 recommendations Thursday, the panel said Enbridge should develop a marine mammal protection plan for construction and operation that includes mitigation and monitoring, including reporting of any mammals killed or injured.

The panel deemed the “risk to marine mammals from cumulative effects as manageable, particularly with the benefit of additional knowledge about marine mammals and effects mitigation that would be gained and available for use broadly if the project were to proceed.” As such, it concluded “that the project is not likely to result in significant adverse cumulative effects with respect to marine mammals.”

The panel added it is applying a “careful and precautionary approach” and says Enbridge has promised to go beyond industry standards to protect whales, including through research and speed restrictions on vessels.

A map provided in the panel report identifies a “core humpback whale area” as extending from Douglas Channel (southwest of the Enbridge pipeline terminus at Kitimat) through Wright Sound and into Otter Channel, Squally Channel and Caamano Sound.

The federal government has also identified critical habitat for humpbacks off the west coast of Vancouver Island and two areas off Haida Gwaii.

Hermann Meuter and his partner, marine biologist Janie Wray, have been studying whales at their Cetacealab research station on the south end of Gil Island for more than a decade. More than 300 humpback whales currently utilize the area threatened by oil tankers.

The panel report said that with “mitigation and considering the success of other ports in mitigating effects, displacement is unlikely. If displacement did occur, it is likely that whales would move to other feeding areas in other locations” on the B.C. coast.

“This is an insult, very disappointing,” Meuter responded. “If this is identified critical habitat, we have to make sure we keep it that way. From what we know, the waters around Gil Island are very important habitat for a number of whale species. That’s just a fact.”

The couple also identified 47 fin whales this past summer, mostly in Squally Channel and Caamano Sound, only seven years after they were first confirmed to live in the area. Fin whales are the second largest creature on Earth at up to 27 metres in length and 80 tonnes.

Meuter said the necessary research should be done in advance to ensure protection of the whales — not give the Enbridge the go-ahead and study later.

Jim Darling, a Tofino-based researcher with Pacific Wildlife Foundation who studies humpbacks in B.C. and Hawaii, said the panel report is full of “management-speak, which means absolutely nothing in the real world and is mostly hypothetical.”

The report amounts to “Northern Gateway basically saying whatever is necessary — whatever they need to say — to get it through, and with no penalty if things do not unfold as they predict or if they just decide not to follow up ...” Darling said.

A humpback whale is seen just outside of Hartley Bay on the north coast of B.C. near the proposed route of oil tankers associated with Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline project, on Sept, 17, 2013. The majestic animals are protected by the federal Species At Risk Act.

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